Reynaldo Hahn was fourteen when he composed the song that made his name, and had the manners needed to become the musician of the salons: there he accompanied himself at the piano as he sang, cigarette between his fingers. He met Proust in 1894; the affair lasted two years, the friendship to the end, and he was one of the few to whom the writer read his manuscripts. The Liberation carried him to the Opera.
The story
He was fourteen when he wrote Si mes vers avaient des ailes. Brought from Caracas as a child, a pupil of Massenet, Reynaldo Hahn had the precocity and the manners it took to become, very quickly, the musician of the Belle Époque drawing rooms: he sang his own songs there, at the piano, cigarette in hand.
It was there that he met Marcel Proust in 1894. The love affair lasted two years, the friendship until the writer's death in 1922 — Hahn remained one of the very few to whom Proust read his manuscripts.
The career itself ran a quiet course. The songs made his name, Ciboulette gave him a popular success in 1923, and the Liberation carried him to the direction of the Paris Opera, which he held from 1945 until his death on 28 January 1947.
His stone is in Division 85, a few paces from Proust's slab. It keeps two titles, member of the Institut and commander of the Legion of Honour, then two cities and two dates. Not the songs, not Ciboulette, not the Opera.
The grave
An inscription that chooses honours over music: “Reynaldo HAHN, member of the Institut, Commander of the Legion of Honour, born in Caracas on 9 August 1874, died in Paris on 28 January 1947.” Two titles, two cities, two dates — and nothing of the songs, nothing of Ciboulette, nothing of the Paris Opera he directed until his death. Proust, whom he had known at twenty, rests in the same Division.
On site, do not miss
The inscription keeps two titles and two cities: “member of the Institut, Commander of the Legion of Honour, born in Caracas on 9 August 1874, died in Paris on 28 January 1947”. Neither Proust, nor Ciboulette.
Visitors' questions
Where is Reynaldo Hahn's grave?
In Division 85, avenue des Thuyas, third row — the same Division as Marcel Proust. The inscription calls him “member of the Institut, Commander of the Legion of Honour”, born in Caracas and died in Paris.
Marcel ProustWhat connects Hahn and Proust?
He was his first love: they met in 1894 and had a two-year affair, followed by a friendship that lasted until the writer's death in 1922. Hahn was one of the few people Proust read his manuscripts to.
Louis LacombeWhat did Reynaldo Hahn compose?
Art songs, among them Si mes vers avaient des ailes, written at fourteen, and the operetta Ciboulette. Born in Venezuela and a pupil of Massenet, he was the musician of the Belle Époque salons.
Gabriel PiernéDid he run the Paris Opera?
He did, from 1945 to 1947 — until his death. Member of the Institut and Commander of the Legion of Honour, he held these two titles to be the only ones worthy of his headstone.
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